CHRISTMAS CENSORS ALREADY AT WORK

Catalyst December Issue 2005

By November 3, the Catholic League had already seen the first attempts to censor Christmas in 2005. Bill Donohue had to this say:

“The regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in San Diego announced this week his disdain for ‘Christmas programs’ and his support for ‘winter programs.’ Morris S. Casuto explained his reasoning by saying, ‘School and public events should be designed to enable diverse communities to participate without feeling left out or marginalized.’

“When Casuto hears about what’s happening this year at Marshall University in West Virginia, he’ll be dancing in the street: they’ve instituted a decoration contest emphasizing non-Christmas symbols. ‘The main idea in our contest is to enrich [the] campus according to the winter tradition,’ explains Christina Burgueno, associate professor of modern languages and a member of the contest committee. Her reasoning? ‘There is such an amount of diversity right now at our campus. We want to celebrate the traditions of other people, people from other places.’

“Following Casuto’s logic, the schools should ban Black History Month because it leaves white kids ‘feeling left out or marginalized.’ As for Burgueno, it’s nice to know she feels it is necessary to emphasize diversity at Christmastime so that those other people’ can feel included. Just imagine her reaction if straight kids on her campus organized a ‘Straight Is Great’ celebration during Gay Pride Week? That would sure make for diversity.